Stars | Ishigami Senku (DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Three

Senku never understood the appeal of having friends.

It was mostly the time he spent alone without his bothersome father pestering him every second that he found peace. No distractions, no annoying chatters, and no other presence except his. It wasn't that he was antisocial, he just disliked exerting his energy in a meaningless conversation.

And having a new neighbor who liked having meaningless conversation with him had been irking him to no end. You were set on befriending him, and he didn't know why. Countless attempts of ignoring you were futile, no matter how many times he gave you obvious hints that he didn't want to interact with you. He's been trying to ignore your existence for a month now, ever since you transferred in his school.

He wanted his interactions with you to be as minimal as possible, but with his father constantly monitoring him and asking questions if he had already been friends with you made it impossible. Byakuya became increasingly aggravating for the young boy, finding ways that would lead Senku into a situation where he was forced to socialize with you.

One of his annoying plans was successful that afternoon, when he told Senku in the morning that he wouldn't be able to pick him up after school because of his 'busy' schedule.

"Why don't you walk home with (Y/n)-chan? That poor girl is walking all alone from school every day," Byakuya had stated with a cheeky grin. "Maybe this is a chance to finally get to know her better!" Before Senku could even respond, Byakuya's cheerful demeanor suddenly shifted into a stern look. "I better see her walking with you or I'll take your comics away."

Senku scoffed at the memory, his father seemingly sounding more irritating in his mind, causing him to kick a rock on the path out of frustration.

You walked a few feet behind him, flinching when he turns his head to glare at you. "Hurry up, slowpoke." You nodded furiously before catching up to his pace, your eyes drifting down to the ground in disappointment and guilt.

He clearly did not like you and you wanted nothing more than to disappear at that moment. You weren't expecting the boy to approach you so suddenly during lunch break and asking (demanding) you to walk with him after school. You knew it was Byakuya's doing much to Senku's displeasure. You have experienced similar situations for the past weeks now, where you and Senku involuntarily interacted.

Though you really meant it when you wanted to be friends with him, Senku had made it all too clear after every attempts you made that he wasn't interested in bonding with you.

"Senku-kun, I—"

"Save it. I know you're going to apologize."

"But—"

"Don't."

You sighed as Senku had once again pushed you away. Byakuya's indirect help meant nothing if his son was still adamant on keeping to himself forever. You can never understand how the boy could cope in school all by himself.

You couldn't handle how stiff and awkward the atmosphere was as you both walked down the street, starting to wish for time to fast forward to the moment you would arrive at your apartment. Not a single word was exchanged and you tried distracting yourself by observing your surroundings instead.

Passing an alleyway, an all too familiar sound suddenly echoed until it reached your ears.

"Meow."